Magoosh for Schools

Student teaching is meant to be difficult, but some people have tougher experiences than others. They have unresponsive students, mentor teachers that aren’t willing to mentor them, or lessons that just bomb. When the tough moments continue to pile up, you might think about giving up or quitting. Before you do this, here are some things that you can try to improve a bad student teaching experience.

Review Evaluations

Go back through your评估。阅读您的导师老师或大学主管的任何评论。如果您有疑问，请与他们坐下来追溯您的表现。询问如何如何提高和获得更好的分数。希望他们能与您合作帮助您进行调整，因此您可以获得更好的体验并成为一个更好的老师。

Ask for a Second Opinion

Let’s say that your mentor teacher isn’t giving you fair reviews or enough constructive criticism to help you improve. If this is the case, consider asking someone else to come in and observe you. It could be someone from your university, an administrator, the department chair, dean, or another teacher in the school. Have them complete a review and give you建设性的反馈意见to help you improve.

与你的导师老师合作

Teachers have a hard time handing over the reins of their classroom. They know their students and they’re excited about the curriculum, so it’s difficult to step aside and let a student teacher take over. Whether this is the case or your personalities just clash, it’s important to look for ways to cooperate and work together.

Remember that as a teacher, you’re going to deal with lots of people that you don’t seem to get along without you need to figure out how to work around this. Begin your time student teaching as a helper. Try to gain the teacher’s trust so they feel more comfortable letting you take over.

If problems persist you should reach out to your university supervisor for suggestions. Keeping your university supervisor in the loop helps them understand why you’re struggling in student teaching. They may also have some insight into why your mentor teacher may be grading you lower than you deserve. Better yet, they may have suggestions to help alleviate this burden you’re facing.

进行学生评估

If you’re struggling with your students, consider getting them involved to figure out how to improve. Students feel empowered when they get a voice in how and what they’re taught. So ask them what you’re doing well, what needs improvement, and any suggestions they may have. You could have them fill out an exit slip anonymously, or have your mentor teacher lead a discussion and give you the feedback later.

Get Acquainted with Faculty and Staff

If things aren’t going well with your mentor teacher, don’t let that destroy your experience. Take the time to get to know other faculty, staff, and administrators. Maybe you could找到一个不同的导师当你有什么estions or need advice. They can also vouch for you when you start looking for a teaching position.

Research!

想想你在教室里挣扎着什么。您是否曾与学生联系起来，让学生参与活动和讨论，或处理课堂管理问题？一旦您确定问题，开始工作。检查您的课堂笔记和教科书是否以获取想法。浏览互联网，联系前同学或电子邮件给前教授。

Ask the right questions and do the research that you need to do, so you can find answers and gather ideas to help you improve. Then, try them in class. It might take some trial and error to figure out what works in the classroom, but don’t give up.

Student teaching is a small taste of what it will be like as a teacher. If things aren’t going well, it might be a good idea to reevaluate why you wanted to become a teacher and make sure that it’s still something that you’re interested in pursuing. If it is, take the necessary steps to work through the difficulties and look for ways to become the type of teacher that you want to be. For more tips on how to avoid a bad student teaching experience, check out my recent posts onStudent Teaching Difficulties to Prepare ForandTop Student Teaching Fears and How to Overcome Them。